First Impressions
by cucumbermelon3200
Summary: Helen picks Ashley up from school. This is a story I wrote a while back for a "Mad March" challenge.


Eyes followed the tiny man as he cautiously approached the bate.

9-year old Ashley Magnus lay flat on her stomach in a dark alleyway concealed behind a pair of dumpsters, a tiny pellet gun clenched in her hands. This was the moment she had been waiting for. All she had to do was catch a leprechaun and she would get to tell Brittney Seemore "I told you so" in front of her entire class. That would earn their respect.

The little creature was only inches away from the poorly constructed trap. It would walk in, take the fake gold and the trap would close on it. Brilliant—only leprechauns were incredibly clever creatures, and she couldn't take her eyes off the thing for a second… couldn't make the slightest noise…

Sweat formed on her brow. 'Just a little closer…' she thought.

RING RING

The sound pierced the quiet alleyway like a cannon ball and Ashley cursed under her breath, fumbling for her cell phone.

She jammed her finger down on the talk button and looked back towards her quarry, which had disappeared from sight. She cursed more loudly and brought the phone to her ear.

"WHAT!?"

"Ashley Magnus, where the hell are you!?" Ashley sighed. It was her mother, and she was not happy.

"I'm in the alley behind the school," she said.

"You should have been out in the parking lot; I've been waiting for 10 minutes!"

"I had things to do."

"Fine, I'm on my way to get you right now."

Ashley sighed again and turned off the phone, returning it to her pocket. "Great," she muttered. She had just sat up, however, when she heard a loud crash and screeching directly behind her, and she winced.

Peeking her head over the dumpster, she was just in time to see her mother's scratched and dented car drive over a bicycle.

Helen Magnus winced as she went over the misplaced speed bump. Upon hearing the noise, a middle-school aged boy opened his back door and rushed towards his broken and dented vehicle, dropping down on his knees dramatically to examine the damage.

Backing up, the car hit the ground with a thud and the doctor leaned out her window. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" she called to the grieving boy, though not sounding too terribly remorseful.

Feeling satisfied anyways, she leaned towards the opposite window and called out for her daughter.

"Come on, Sweetheart! You know what happens when the guests are kept waiting for their dinner!" she said cheerily and rolled up the windows to drown out the boy's wailing.

Ashley swiftly approached the passenger side of the car, covering her face with a book so the angry young man wouldn't see her face. She slid into her seat and fastened her seatbelt tightly.

"Hello, darling! How was your day?" Her mother seemed to have completely forgotten the lecture she had just given her daughter, because she seemed to be feeling rather upbeat.

"I thought you couldn't drive?" Ashley groaned, ignoring the question.

"'Tis true, I have yet to receive a permit for driving a motorized vehicle of any kind," Helen admitted with a sigh. "But I couldn't just let my child walk home from school now could I? With all the nasty people wandering the streets these days..."

The young girl groaned again. She had Bigfoot as her nanny and her mother was worried about muggers...?

"What about the cops?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Oh don't worry, sweetheart! I gave them the 'slip'!"

Ashley sunk down into her leather seat as far as she could as her mother began to pull out of the narrow alley. She was beginning to feel glad her mother hadn't picked her up in the parking lot.

Meanwhile, a teenage Will Zimmerman had just been dismissed from school and was heading home. He held his walkman in his right hand and secured his book bag with his right.

The public bus was parked across the street picking people up, and he began to cross. Suddenly, police sirens broke the silence and a beaten looking red car swerved around the corner, scattering frightened pedestrians this way and that. He jumped back just in time to avoid getting hit and a young girl leaned out the side window, shouting "Sorry!" as the car sped off. He watched as the car disappeared from sight. A street light was tangled around the bunker and dragging behind it, and about a dozen police cars were behind that.

Will was left in total awe even after the chase had disappeared from view, and he simply stared after it.

Finally, he shook his head in disbelief and wandered across the road to the waiting bus, muttering "Crazy women."


End file.
